Angel Rangel seeks place in Swansea history

23 January 2013 09:47

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Angel Rangel has challenged his team-mates to write their names indelibly in Swansea's history by securing a place in their first major final - an achievement which seemed barely credible when the Spaniard joined the club.

Swansea face Chelsea in the semi-final of the Capital One Cup at the Liberty Stadium tonight, holding a 2-0 advantage from the first leg and dreaming of a meeting with League Two Bradford in the Wembley final. Rangel joined the Swans in npower League One in 2007 and he admits he never dared to dream of being involved in as big an occasion.

"If you had told me five and a half years ago in League One that I would be top 10 in the Premier League and fighting Chelsea to get to the final at Wembley for the Capital One Cup I would have said it was impossible," the 30-year-old said.

"I think throughout all these years we have built great teams and you can see now that we are enjoying it on the pitch, and this will be one of those occasions when we can put in a good shift and hopefully get through. We can become legends, we can make history. It is one of those games we have been waiting for for a long time."

Swansea have enjoyed a fine home record since their promotion to the Premier League, holding Chelsea to 1-1 draws on the two occasions the Blues have visited south Wales.

But manager Michael Laudrup has rejected the idea his side are favourites to advance to the final.

"Are we the favourites? They won the Champions League last season, so I don't think so," Laudrup said.

"We have a better chance than we did before the first game; the only thing I asked for from the first leg was to come back here for the second leg with the realistic possibility to go to a final and I think we can say that's the case. But to go into a game playing Chelsea saying we are the favourites, there's a long way to go.

"You look at the money they have spent and you ask if they need a trophy more? It's obvious. One of their players, and not the most expensive one, costs more than our squad.

"When they pay £30million for a player it is not because he's a nice guy, it is because they want trophies."